Superficial Dreaming and Intoxication
by SinnersLikeUs
Summary: Based on "Iroha Uta." They both have dark pasts. Those who get close to him turn up dead, and she's already broken in more ways than one. But how far will they go for each other? GakuRin.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N : Hey, all. I back~ Miss me? **

**Well, anyway, this won on my poll, and I'm pretty damn excited about it. I hope you all enjoy.**

**Disclaimer : I do not own Vocaloid, or the song Iroha Uta. The characters mention do not belong to be and I am not making a profit off of them. **

**Warnings : Strong language and sexual intonations ahead. Minors beware.**

**Thank you to my amazingly awesome beta, Seinakyou. She's made of rainbows and cupcakes for reading through this a million times and fixing all my bouts of silliness that are just weird. Oh, and she's writing something freakin' awesome, too. Check her out!**

–

Superficial Dreaming and Intoxication:

Chapter 1:

Kagamine Rin collapsed to the floor onto her side, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her long, baggy sleeves around them. She was trying to make herself unnoticeable; trying to hide.

Icy blue eyes closed amidst the murmurs of the frenzied females in the room. Unlike the others, Rin had cut her hair short, trying to make herself as unappealing as possible. She tried to believe that, maybe, if she looked like a boy, the men would leave her alone. One would think that her small breasts and short stature would be ignored among other beautiful women.

But it was never like that.

She heard the entrance slide open and footsteps on the hard, cold floor. A woman's gasp rang out in the now silent room. Rin opened her eyes and watched the shadow of a tall figure grasp a girl by the arm before dragging her out of the room, slamming the door closed behind him so that the room was once more enclosed in darkness.

There was a collective sigh of relief of those still here. They hadn't been taken. Yet.

Rin knew that the rebels who kept her and the others here had won a battle last night. They were drinking heartily, indulging in their victory.

They were also ready to indulge in the geisha. A pretty word for the ugly job as a concubine and slave.

Conversation slowly started back up in the enclosed, dark space once they were sure no more warriors were coming towards them. Rin stayed curled up on the ground, tightening her arms around herself.

The sound of bare feet on the floorboards did not startle her. She knew it was only one of her companions. Long, teal hair brushed her face as the woman sat down near her head. Soft hands caressed her forehead in a comforting manner. Rin relaxed a little, knowing that her dear friend Hatsune Miku hadn't been taken tonight.

"Kaito came back," the teal haired woman announced.

Small shoulder tensed. Kaito was one of the more talented warriors, strong and always in the front lines. He had taken a special liking to Rin, especially when he was intoxicated. He often called her Meiko at those times, though she didn't know why.

Rin had almost hoped he'd died during the battle.

Light spilled into the room once again as someone opened the door. The whispers hushed, and Rin tried to curl even further into herself as he walked closer. Rin had recognized the timbre of the shoes he wore.

_Please. Not tonight_.

A large hand wrapped itself around her forearm, fingers overlapping on the skinny appendage. Rin bit her tongue so that she didn't cry out as she was roughly pulled upwards. Miku looked up at her apologetically, not saying nor doing anything to help.

Rin didn't blame her. There was nothing _to _do.

As she was pulled out of the room, she tried to keep her eyes on the floor. She didn't want to see blue hair and handsome features. She wanted to see the blonde, spiky hair of her brother who was, with the recent battle, now technically on technical _enemy _territory.

She'd been taken from her home a few years ago. She'd been young, and hadn't known how to fight back. Her nation had been at a civil war, and had been invaded by the rebellion army. They'd taken many young women and girls, killing a lot of people. Her older brother, Len, had fought tooth and nail so that she wasn't captured.

It hadn't been enough, and he vowed that he'd join the Samurai and fight to get her back someday.

Rin was sure that he would. But, maybe, he'd be too late.

She was pulled into another, beautifully decorated room in no time. Crafted bamboo furniture sat perfectly across the room, a mat sitting in the center. Everything showed the power and responsibility the man who rested here had. But her eyes weren't drawn towards that—they were drawn to the chains hanging on the far wall. Where she knew she'd be locked up.

Kaito dragged her to it, cuffing her wrists. The chains were too high, meant for someone taller, and she was forced to stand on her toes so that her arms were threatening to pop out of their sockets.

As she felt her clothes being removed, she screwed her eyes shut, hoping to just get it over with.

"Look at me, Meiko." The words were whispered from the intoxicated, large man. He laced his fingers through the sash of her kimono at her waist. She did raise her eyes, not having a choice. His eyes were blood shot, and she swallowed nervously. Her kimono dropped to the floor, and she bit her lip, tasting blood.

_Somebody help..._

–

A few miles away, the Samurai going against the rebellions sat in a makeshift campsite, tending to their wounded bodies and pride. They sat around a fire, on random logs and stumps that they had found. Off to the side, there were hastily set up tents where the seriously wounded rested on dirty cots.

"We got our asses kicked," says one solider, wincing as he attempted to bandage a bleeding wound in his side.

Kamui Gakupo, leader of the group of trained men, ignored the groans and protests of his fellow warriors, instead sitting hunched over a scroll with the afternoon's failed battle plan etched onto the parchment. Where had he gone wrong?

He ran a hand through is long, purple hair. He only looked up when he heard someone take the available seat on a log next to him.

Kagamine Len had joined the Samurai at a young age. Or, tried to, at least. It was Gakupo himself who had actually gotten the boy enlisted, though he'd never tell his friend that. He had felt sorry for the boy, and knew the familiar feeling of needing revenge for your family's honor. Since then, Len had gained many skills and proved admirable.

"What next?" the flaxen haired boy asked, raising a washcloth to a shallow gash on his forehead. Gakupo winced, remembering his own almost-concussion earlier that day. Someone had surprised him, hit him from behind. It was a dirty way of fighting, but Gakupo didn't expect anything less from the rebels.

Before the leader could answer, a man with red hair stumbled into the camp, panting. Gakupo immediately rose. "Somebody get him a cot and some water!" He barked the orders, and his comrades rushed to aid the man.

It was only when they got the man settled did Gakupo approach him. "What did you learn, Ted?" he asked quietly.

Ted tried to sit up in his cot. He winced, and laid back down. "They've got a resting place about four miles east. Food, drinks, er... women. From what I saw, they were living it up in their victory. They'd be easy targets right now." He punctuates his sentence with a cough, and a trail of blood leaks from the corner of his mouth.

Gakupo looked over his other companions silently, knowing what he wanted.

He wished to propose that they tried another attack early in the morning, when the rebels would be sleeping, and, ultimately, forced on the defensive.

His silence caught Len's attention. "Aw, I know that look," he said, leaning forward so that his elbows could rest on his knees. "What are you planning, Kamui?"

Kagamine Len, Gakupo knew, would _always _be up for a fight, especially if he knew they may find women where the rebellion troupe was. While the boy was not looking for a interested in indecent activities with the females himself, his sister had been taken by them. That was why Len joined the Samurai—to get her back.

Gakupo also knew that his own troupe would be up and ready for another battle, and would never complain about their injuries. They were strong, capable men, yes, but could they handle it?

As if he spoke his thoughts aloud, the warriors looked up determinedly at Len's words, some going as far as to pick up their recently used swords and start sharpening the bloodied weapons.

A slow smile graced the purple-haired man's lips.

He told the others of his plans, and that seemed to rile them up even more. As expected, no one even bothered to entertain the thought of rejecting his plan, though he knew they had to be worn out.

"All of you sleep," he announced, trying to calm down the now animated Samurai. "I will keep watch tonight. We will leave at dawn. Don't expect to be coming back here—we're taking their fort."

The men cheered, and Gakupo tried to tune them out, too tired to care, catching only snippets of their conversation. Most of the warriors, it seemed, were excited at a chance of women and alcohol after so long.

He snorted. Gakupo had learned from experience that keeping a woman in his line of work only ended in despair.

Many people believed that he and his Samurai were fighting real demons, the people who wanted to kill their nation.

In truth, Gakupo had his own personal ghosts he had not yet defeated.

The tall man shook his head, trying to get into an appropriate mood for a battle. Hopefully, this one would go better than the last.

If not, well...

Kamui Gakupo was more than used to failure by now.

–

**A/N : Yep. This is yet another starting to a new, higher-rated era. This is rated T for now, but it will more likely than not go up.**

**I hope everyone likes this!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N : Second chapters are great. It means a multi-chaptered story is in progress. I was also SO happy with all the positive feeback.**

**Thank you, again, to Seinakyou, who betas for me and still talks to me even if she thinks I'm crazy. She's writing something called _Firebird_. It's GakuRin. It's suspenseful. Can you say "awesome-sauce?"**

–

Chapter 2:

The sun was set to rise in about an hour.

Gakupo's troops were set to attack now, but there had been some flaws and complications.

The large, injured group of men slowly made their way to where the rebels were supposedly hiding out. Various wounds marking the warriors made them unable to speed up. They were still more or less a mile away. Their schedule stated that they should have been at their destination at leasta half hour before, but not everything goes according to plan. The warriors were still wounded, and the fact just that they were even willing to fight was something to be proud of, Gakupo supposed. He wishes they could be a little faster about it.

After what seemed like hours, the Samurai arrived. Faint lights outlined the large compound. Silently, the purple-haired leader motioned to the building, and half of the men separated, intent on going towards the back of the building to block off all the exits as per plan.

However, a loud gong sounded through the silent night, and the Samurai all glanced up at the same moment to see a man hitting it furiously, swaying slightly on his feet. He was no doubt hung-over. He was standing on a high platform above the building, appearing half asleep. Not so much that he didn't hear them, though.

Commotion started from inside the fort, the curses of men and the pounding of footsteps ringing out into the clear night. They emerged from the building all at once, creating a stampede that was dead set on getting through the opposing warriors, who were eagerly getting into formation for battle.

There were battle cries from both sides. Just as Gakupo thought, the rebels were sloppy. They were all tired and still suffering from the night's previous events.

"Retreat!" Gakupo glanced up from the enemy he was engaging to see Shion Kaito standing on the front porch of the cabin, yelling at his men. He held a lantern in his hand. "Fall back!" he shouted. The blue-haired man turned, as if he were to go back inside. Instead, he threw the lantern in the cabin, setting the fort to flames.

Kaito leapt from the porch, and he and his men start running towards the opposite direction, tripping over themselves and their weapons.

Gakupo prepared to take off after them when a faint screaming started from inside the fort.

He remembered Ted saying that there had been women here, and Gakupo felt anger boil up inside him from the debauched nature Kaito had to set fire to a building housing his own females. How dishonorable.

The shrieks increased in intensity, and the leader of the Samurai swore to himself. He ordered those men who had split off earlier to give chase to the rebels, and the rest to follow him inside and gather the people and anything else that may have been of importance that had been left behind.

He wondered vaguely, as he ran into the burning building, if these women were indeed worth saving. He had heard that they were kidnapped, but whose side were they really on?

Ignoring the thought, he opened a sliding door that lead to a bathing room. It was quite extravagant, with rose petals set around the tub and candles that were still lit. The beauty of the room was quickly forgotten about, however, when gray smoke curled into it, making it hard for Gakupo to breathe.

Seeing as the room was a dead end, he turned and checked another. This one looked like a makeshift kitchen. Glass bottles were strewn hazardously across the floor and littered the counter. Frowning, he spotted a door at the far end of the room and headed for it.

It lead to another hallway, and the fire had spread here, it seemed. Orange and red flames licked at the walls. In his peripheral vision, Gakupo saw Len carefully guiding a woman down the hallway with bright, teal hair. She was coughing, and mumbling something that he couldn't quite catch. Len hushed her and they kept stumbling through the halls until they were out of Gakupo's sight.

He heard the voices of the women and his men coming from that direction, so he assumed that they had been found. Gakupo still hoped that he could find something _useful_, like possible battle plans. So he headed down the hall in the opposite direction, the smoke making it difficult to see.

There was only one door at the edge of the hall, and Gakupo opened it without much thought, thinking that whatever was in there hadto be preferable to the smoke and flames he was faced with now.

When he slid the door open, however, he saw that he might have preferred the sight of the flames engulfing the buildings to _this_.

The room was dark. It held no windows for the faint, dawn light to seep through. However, there were enough lanterns lit for Gakupo to make out the person chained to the wall. The figure seemed to be only kept up by the fixtures on their wrists, slumping forward with bent knees. They seemed to be sleeping, which was beyond strange, as that position looked more than a little uncomfortable.

Moving closer, he made out that the figure was a small, young girl. She looked frail in every sense of the word. Her eyes were closed and partially hidden under he short hair. She was too thin, and angry bruises marked her body.

Which he could only see because she was stark naked.

Surprising himself, Gakupo felt heat rise to his cheeks in a blush. It was neither the time nor nor place for that, and he shook his head before closing the door behind him to prevent more smoke from entering and started approaching the girl, footsteps resonating throughout the small room.

As he got closer, he realized that her hair was blonde and, like the rest of her, dirty.

He had to crouch so that he was eye-level with her slumping form, and try his damnedest to keep his gaze from straying. He was a gentleman, yes—but he was still a man.

"Girl," he said awkwardly, voice cracking. He coughed, tried again. "Wake up, girl."

Gakupo wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it _wasn't _for her to actually listen. Her head snapped up and her eyes locked with his. They were a blue, and as cold as ice. She froze for a moment before those eye widened, seeming to finally grasp his presence.

She made a strange sound and jerked against her bonds, looking genuinely frightened. Icy eyes darted, seeming to be searching for an escape. He held out his hand in what he hoped was a comforting manner. "I'm not here to hurt you," he stated gently.

"Hah! I believe _that_," she snapped, and then fear crossed her once again and she tensed up even more so. Did she think he would hit her?

He furrowed his eyebrows. "What's your name?" He waited a moment, but she didn't answer. He asked again, and she glared at him. "You can tell me your name, girl," he started, "Or I can call you something I'm sure you wouldn't appreciate."

Icy eyes narrowed at him. "Rin." The word was short and clipped. Her voice sounded funny, as if she didn't use it often enough.

"Rin," Gakupo repeated. She nodded. "What's this room used for, Rin?" he asked.

She bit her lip and her forehead creased in worry. "Please let me out," she whispered. "I-I'll tell you anything you want, but you have to let me go."

Gakupo wasn't sure if he should believe Rin or not, but he nodded nevertheless. They probably didn't have a lot of time, and his troupe was probably wondering what was taking him. He looked at her closely. She looked a lot like Len...

Shaking the thought, he rose. "Where are the keys?" he asked. It was like an interrogation. He just kept questioning her.

"Under the sleeping p-pallet."

Sure enough, he found them and returned to Rin. She stood straight up, not seeming to care in the least that she was nude. Gakupo supposed she was used to it. He reached up and undid the fixtures at her wrists.

Without the chains to hold her up, she flew forward into his chest, face burying into the material of his shirt. By instinct, he took hold of her shoulders.

She immediately recoiled backwards and landed on her rear. She scrambled backwards until she was once again against the wall. At this moment, she seemed to realize she was bare and wrapped her arms around her torso and pulled her legs to her chest.

Sighing, Gakupo turned away from her. _It's a little late for that_. "Where are your clothes, Rin?" he questioned.

Before she could answer, the material of the door started smoking, curling away to reveal the inferno that was engulfing the building.

Rin gasped. "T-There's a fire!"

Gakupo turned back to her with a raised brow. Hadn't she smelled the smoke earlier? It had been suffocation to him.

"No time for clothing," he ground out, whipping off his shirt and throwing it over her head. He pulled her up to stand, and the material draped on her, too large for her slight frame. He fastened the front of it, ignoring her weak protests. "Let's go," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the door.

"H-Hey!" she called from behind him. "I can't—"

Suddenly, she dropped to the ground, biting her lip. Mumbling curses softly to himself, Gakupo knelt next to her. "What is it?"

"I'm sorry," Rin whispered. "My ankle..." She trailed off, but she didn't need to say anything. Gakupo inspected at her foot and saw that her ankle was swollen, probably sprained if not broken.

"What happened?" he asked.

She didn't answer, and he glanced up to find her gawking at his bare chest. Not at the skin itself, he knew, but the large scar that formed an _X_, the middle of it where his heart was located.

Gakupo _hated _it when people stared at his scars. He knew he was imperfect. No one needed to remind him.

Scowling, he swept her off the ground and started towards the inferno again.

"N-No!" Rin shrieked. "I do not know who you are, but, personally, Ido _not_ have a suicide wish!"

She was once again ignored. He cradled her small form to his chest, hunching over slightly as to protect her from falling debris, he ran out of the door, past the fire.

He couldn't see once he got out into the hallway. He turned in the general direction where he had seen Len and the others go, and hoped for the best.

Rin was coughing, and his eyes were watering from all the smoke. He cursed to himself when he reached a dead end, back tracking until he got into the kitchen.

Finally, he knew where he was. Still clutching the blonde girl to his chest, he staggered out onto the porch where half his men were waiting with the other woman.

Gakupo looked down at the girl in his arms to see that she had passed out, soot covering her pale skin. He sighed to himself, and stumbled towards the others. The teal-haired female he had seen earlier broke away from a group and approached him cautiously.

"E-Excuse me," she mumbled meekly, staring at her hands. Why were these girls so damn frightened all the time? What had happened to them? "That girl. Is she...?"

"Fine," Gakupo muttered. A look of relief passed over her features as the teal-haired girl looked to the brightening sky, muttering thanks and rubbing eyes that were, surprisingly, not overflowing with tears as expected of young women in times of crisis.

Still carrying Rin, he told his men that they would head back to camp to wait for the others and see what had happened with the rebels.

Until then...

Gakupo felt exhausted. This had gone _completely _wrong.

As per usual, he supposed.

–

**A/N : Yep. On a roll. **

**Review Responses:**

**Xander Cruize: I'm happy to hear from you again! I hope you liked this next chapter as well as the first.**

**Black snow rose: Another person who read me before! And you still use caps lock~ Hope you liked this chapter! (And I didn't know about the Len/Kaito one, ha ha).**

**Maiden Of The Heavens: Glad you liked it! And I have been researching Geisha, and why it isn't like how the "geisha" are in here is... well, you'll have to wait and see to find out :3**

**Seinakyou: Silly. You've read this already~ I appreciate it thought!**

**Klemiel: Ah, I'm happy you're following me onto this story. Can't wait to hear what you thought of this!**

**Reviews are pretty.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N : Finals murdered me and took most of my creativity along with them. But, finally, I have churned out yet another chapter!**

Chapter 3:

_A woman's giggle echoed throughout the quiet room. "Gakupo!" the female voice said, "Bet you can't catch me!"_

_ Gakupo couldn't see anything, as if he were blind. All he heard was _her _voice. But that was enough._

_ He ran forward, determined to capture her, prove her wrong. He felt his fingers brush smooth, soft skin, and heard another laugh._

_ Then, the laugh turned into a shriek of horror, and he felt a warm, sticky liquid splatter over his face. It smelt like copper._

_ The laughing stopped._

_ It was blood._

–

Gakupo's eyes snapped open quickly. He sat up just as fast, and black spots swirled over his vision as the room spun. He closed his eyes and, when he opened them, he was right where he started—flat on his back.

Scowling slightly to himself, he rose once again, this time much slower. The back of his head, the spot where he was struck during the battle, was sore, causing his head to pound irritably.

Taking a look around the room, he noted that he was in one of the infirmary tents, resting on an uncomfortable cot. There was an unlit lantern at one corner of the room, near the tent flap. In the center was his cot. Besides that, the space was bare, nobody but himself occupying it.

He took the moment of solitude to try and figure out exactly _why _he was being held here. He remembered making it safely out of the building with that Rin girl, and then... nothing.

The tent flap moved, and Len entered. He looked tired, but smiled at Gakupo nonetheless when he saw he was awake.

"Glad to see your back with the living," he commented, sitting down on the floor next to the cot and leaning back, crossing his arms over his chest.

That certainly didn't lighten the purple-haired man's mood. "What happened back there?" he asked stiffly, raising a hand to touch the bump at the back of his head.

Len tensed visibly. "That girl," he said, instead of answering his question. "What was her name?"

"Didn't you ask her that yourself?"

The flaxen-haired boy sighed. "Me and the men tried talking to them. The women refuse to answer. Besides that, the girl you rescued is still unconscious. When you came out of the house, you must have been dead tired. You didn't sleep the night before, huh? Anyway, you came out with her, came to talk to us, then passed out on the ground with the girl. You broke her fall, though, at least. Nothing good would have come out of crushing her," Len explained. He then sighed, looking at the lone lantern, as if deep in thought. Eyes drooping slightly, he mumbled, "I hope she's okay."

Gakupo stared at the floor awkwardly. He was terrible at comforting people. "Her name is Rin," he finally said. "I think she and the other girls were unwilling...er..."

"Concubines?" Len offered, his voice little more than an unmanly squeak.

Gakupo nodded, and Len dropped his face into his hands. "Rin," he grumbled. "That was... Kamui, that was my sister's name. A-And she looks _just like me_. It has to be her. I-I—" The young man trailed off with a strange, strangled sound and the older man panicked. He really, _really _hoped Len wouldn't start crying on him. He loved the boy like he was a brother, yes, but men didn't cry, did they?

No, and Len knew that. So, with a sniffle, he looked up determinedly and met Gakupo's eyes. "I want to try talking to the women again," he said, scrambling to stand. He had an unnatural glint in his normally carefree eyes. "They have to know _something_."

Before Gakupo could answer, another man entered the tent, saluting the two men and alerting Len that the girl Gakupo had rescued had woken up. Without even looking at him, Len ran out of the tent, most likely towards Rin.

Gakupo shook his head, having half a mind to follow Len, but deciding against it. He'd give the boy—and the girls—some time before he bombarded them with questions. Besides that, he was still tired.

–

Rin was comfortable.

And that one feeling was the thing that alerted her that something was amiss.

She groaned, cracking her eyes open at an unhurried pace. Kneeling next to her was Miku, who beamed at Rin when she realized she was waking up. Rin sat up slowly, a bit sore, but that was normal for her. As she rubbed her eyes, she noticed a man exit the tent.

Miku grasped Rin's hand tightly after the man left, pulling it away from her face. "I was so worried about you!" she said, leaning in closer. "Oh, Rin... He really beat you up last time, didn't he?"

The drowsy blonde leaned back slightly, feeling a bit self-conscious. With her free hand, she felt her face for new cuts or bruises, not finding much. It was as she looked down at her body where she saw the problem.

She was wearing a man's shirt, first and foremost. The purple-haired man who had saved her had thrown it on her, she remembered. It was gaping in the front, and her shoulders, chest, and stomach were covered with random, black and blue marks. She grimaced.

The teal-haired squeezed her hand even tighter, gathering her attention. "It would assure me much more if you actually said something," she stated, worry glinting in her eyes.

Rin smiled in what she hoped was in a comforting manner. Resting a hand over Miku's, she said, "I'm fine; don't worry about it." Her friend didn't look impressed, but only frowned in response. "Where are we, anyway?" Rin asked her.

Before Miku could answer, a boy who couldn't be older than she was walked into the tent. He smiled awkwardly, running a hand through his spiky blonde hair. Rin glanced at the girl beside her to see Miku had pressed her lips tightly together. Her hands were shaking.

Just who were these men?

"H-Hello... Rin," the boy said, his voice cracking. "Um. I'd like to talk to you privately, if you don't m-mind..." He trailed off, glancing at Miku.

Miku raised a brow at her, and Rin sighed and shrugged. "Go on," she encouraged, "He's small—I can take 'im." The last was whispered as a joke, and, while Miku's lips twitched upwards in an amused smile, the boy looked _horrified_.

Finally, the teal-haired girl rose, glancing back at Rin before she exited the tent in a silent wish of luck.

There was a decidedly uncomfortable silence, and Rin sat up straighter on her bedding, pulling her borrowed clothing more tightly over her small frame.

"So," the boy said, finally breaking the quiet, "You really think you could take me?" He sounded teasing, and Rin felt herself smile against her will.

"With one hand tied behind my back," she rebutted. The words came out little more than a murmur, and she looked to her lap. She felt fear curl up into her stomach. She was so _stupid_. What would he do to her now, that she insulted him?

Instead of hitting her, like she believed he would, he laughed. _Laughed_, as if it were _funny _that she could offend him.

Rin didn't understand.

The boy knelt in front of her with a friendly grin on his face. Sticking out one hand towards her, he said, "My name is Len. Told you I would get you back."

She stared at the hand held out for her like it was a bomb, waiting for it to explode in her face. "L-Len?" she repeated meekly. He nodded, and she stared at him.

After many, heavy moments of silence, Len asked, "You believe me, don't you, Rin? I-I'm your twin. Len. Kagamine Len."

Did she? After all this time, being an unwilling slave to warriors who used and abused her, could she ever trust _any _man again, even one who claimed to be her own brother? "I... I...," she stuttered.

Turning away from him, she looked instead to the wall of the tent. These men took her. They claimed to be helping—the purple-haired man from last night even saved her life—but who could Rin really believe at this point.

_"Come with me, child, and you can play with angels. You can be a princess, in a world of your choosing."_

The girl closed her icy eyes, shaking her head. "No," she mumbled to herself. "You're a _liar_." The words were barely even a whisper.

"I swear to you, I'm telling you the truth."

A warm hand on her arm snapped her out of her memories. She jerked her head up to face Len. "I wasn't talking to you," she murmured, face flushing. Carefully, she shifted so that he was no longer touching her, and took the time to really look at him.

He did look like her. Same facial structure, same blonde hair and blue eyes, maybe a tone or so off hue. Same pale skin. Same slight build.

Sighing, the boy with her face crawled toward her to sit down on her bedding with her. "Rin," he said softly, "I can't imagine what you've been through. But you _have _to believe me. I've been looking for you for nearly nine years. I just want to take care of you, like I was supposed to."

Rin bit her lip, thinking she probably looked just as fragile as she felt. She wanted her only family back, desperately.

And, if this boy was lying, she was more than willing to go along with it.

So, with more than a little hesitation, she leaned forward carefully, wrapping her frail arms around the boy.

He chuckled lightly in her ear. "I've missed you," he whispered, kissing her forehead gently.

Rin clutched the slightest bit tighter on his shirt. Because, whether this boy was who he claimed to be or not, she'd missed him, too.

–

**Review Responses: **

**Seinakyou: Oh, you see? :3**

**Black Snow Rose: Time shall tell what goes with the GakurRin! And I'd tell you, but it'd ruin the suprise... Hope you liked the chapter!**

**Xander Cruize: I'm glad you liked the last chapter and hope that this one pleases you, as well. The reassurance on my pacing was good, sometimes I feel like I'm taking forever. Hope to hear from you again!**

**Klemiel: Ah, I'm happy you don't think I'm taking too long with the pacing. Also glad you liked their meeting. Hope you liked this chapter! **

**Maiden of the Heavens: Glad you enjoyed it! I can't wait for your updates, too!**

**VIOKAY: Yeah, I know Geisha aren't concubines, and why Rin thinks they are will be explained in the future. All having to do with the plot. Thanks for the brotip, anyway!**

**Triplebene: I feel special :3 Thanks for the encouragement! I hope this met your expectations! And, yes, this couple is WAY too underloved.**

**Americastar50: I also liked the shirtless Gaku scene -shot-. I'm such a fan girl. I have so many pics of them saved on my computer. I hope you liked this chapter!**

**Fallen To Blood: I'm glad you like it! Thank you!**

**Da Poke Geek: I used to have braces. I hated them, and they only took them off six months after they said they would. Gah. Anyway, I'm happy you like the story and the pairing! Hope to hear from you again! And, yes, whoever hurt Gaku deserved pain.**

**R&R!**


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